Audiobook: Anomaly by Peter Cawdron (Narrated by P.J. Ochlan)

Thoughtful Science Fiction At Its Best

5 out of 5 stars

Sometimes a book will leave me speechless for good or bad reasons. Anomaly left me speechless for a couple days because I couldn’t find the words to describe how great of a story it really was. The end of the entire book Cawdron explains a little about what spurred him to write the story the way that it was written — and I love it even more. I had just finished the book. I was in that post-great-book-euphoria and then that part comes on and just solidifies my love for the story, characters, and overall way that the story was told.

I think the thing that I liked the most was that the person who was least qualified to make hypothesis was the one that they kept coming back to for answers. Sometimes you can have all the degrees in the world but it won’t help you see something that a school teacher would see.

I also felt that Cawdron did a great job going through the different reactions by different types of people. From religious to government types — everyone had a different feeling about it and Cawdron explained it in a way that both made sense and made the book feel incredibly realistic.

Cawdron is quickly becoming my go-to for Science Fiction stories because they remind me of some of the stories that got me into reading Sci-Fi in the first place. It just has that “old school” feel to it without feeling old (if that makes sense).

Overall, Anomaly will stick with me for a long time. The story was that memorable and well told. Cawdron is a master of his craft and I’m glad I have some other books of his to read soon.

The narration by PJ Ochlan really put the cherry on top of this. He was able to give voices to the character in such a way that they felt real. I love that about a good audiobook.

Anomaly examines the prospect of an alien intelligence discovering life on Earth. The technological gulf between humanity and the alien species is measured in terms of millions of years. The only way to communicate is using science, but not everyone is so patient.

Humanity's first contact with an alien intelligence is far more radical than anyone has ever dared imagine. With a technological gap of millions of years, mankind is barely able to recognize the arrival of an alien space craft outside the gates of the United Nations in New York.

I received this book for free. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

About the Author:

Peter is an Australian science fiction writer, specialising in hard science fiction.

Hard science fiction is a misnomer as far as categories of literature go, as it sounds harsh and difficult to understand, but that is far from reality. Hard science fiction is simply plausible science fiction, fiction that is written in such a way as it conforms to the known laws of science, and that makes it more interesting, as there’s no magic wand the protagonist can wave to get out of trouble. Peter’s forays into hard science fiction could best be described as informative science fiction or enjoyable science fiction.

Peter is a fan of such classic science fiction writers as Philip K. Dick, Arthur C. Clarke and Michael Crichton and their influence on his style and story lines is readily apparent. You can follow Peter on Facebook or Twitter or find him posting some interesting tibit on his blog http://thinkingscifi.wordpress.com/

I’ve loved reading since I was little when my dad would read me Dr. Suess books. Fast-forward a little and I noticed that he was always reading on his lunch breaks at work, and I wondered why.Then, I found a book that took me to another place and time, to another feeling,another sense of “being”.It was the first book that I ever fell in love with, and I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since.